The Netherlands’ economy stagnated in the first quarter as declines in government spending and exports were offset by the rise in investment, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday.
Gross domestic product remained flat sequentially in the first quarter after expanding 1.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Year-on-year, GDP grew 7.0 percent, faster than the 6.5 percent expansion posted a quarter ago.
The expenditure-side showed that government spending fell markedly by 4.0 percent on quarter, while household spending dropped 0.1 percent.
Exports and imports decreased 0.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. On the other hand, investment grew 0.8 percent.
Another report from the statistical office showed that household spending continued to increase in March. Spending climbed 11.2 percent from the last year, but slower than the 13.4 percent increase registered in February.
Due to rising inflation, private consumption might fall over several quarters, ING economist Marcel Klok said. Together with worldwide supply chain issues, the economy is likely to see occasional negative quarterly GDP figure.
But the economist did not forecast an outright, long-lasting recession for the Dutch economy as demand still simply seems too strong.
In March, exports contracted for the first time in five months, the statistical office said in a separate communiqué. Exports were down 1.9 percent, in contrast to the 1.5 percent increase in February.
Likewise, imports decreased 2.2 percent after rising 1.4 percent in the previous month.
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